Man who took hostages at Hillary Clinton’s office recaptured

Eisenberg, who took hostages six years ago at one of Hillary Clinton’s campaign offices, was arrested Monday morning at a community resource center in Manchester, New Hampshire, hours after officials learned he wasn’t at a Manchester halfway house where he was supposed to be, police in the city said.

Authorities had said they considered Sunday afternoon’s disappearance an escape because Eisenberg did not let anyone know he was leaving, as he is required to do.

Eisenberg will be arraigned Monday at a Hillsborough County courthouse on an escape charge, and then will be sent to state prison in Concord, state Department of Corrections spokesman Jeff Lyons said

This is at least the second time Eisenberg, 52, left authorities wondering about his whereabouts.

He was released in 2009 after serving two thirds of a three-year sentence. But in February 2010, he violated his probation by cutting off his GPS tracking bracelet. He was arrested about a day later and eventually received a new sentence of 3½ to 7 years. He is eligible for parole in August.

Eisenberg has a history of mental illness and substance-abuse problems, authorities say.

In 2007, he entered Clinton’s campaign office in Rochester, New Hampshire, with road flares strapped to his chest. He claimed he had a bomb, and he held several hostages for five hours. Clinton was in Washington at the time.

In an interview with CNN in 2007, Eisenberg said he took the hostages to raise awareness about mental health issues.

“I wanted to sacrifice myself for mental illness and bring about the discussion about mental illness,” Eisenberg said. Furthermore, he said, “I wanted the police to kill me.”

He was convicted of multiple counts of kidnapping, criminal threatening and false reports of explosives.